[np_storybar title=”Rhetoric and response” link=””]As North Korea pledges to never abandon its nuclear capabilities, the National Post’s Scott Barber looks at the escalating rhetoric coming from the Hermit Kingdom, and the world’s response.

March 7
The U.S. “is set to light the fuse for nuclear war,” said a spokesman for the North Korean foreign ministry after the UN Security Council passes tougher sanctions against North Korea. “[North Korea] will exercise the right to
a preemptive nuclear attack to destroy the strongholds of the aggressors and to defend the supreme interests of the country.”

March 11
The United States and South Korea begin annual “Key Resolve” military exercises. In response, North Korea officially quashes the 1953 armistice which ended the Korean War — an act they have done six times since 1994 — and breaks off a Red Cross communication line with South Korea.